


Snapshots

by cosmicruin



Series: the ineluctable you [2]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-19
Updated: 2016-03-19
Packaged: 2018-05-27 17:06:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6292681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cosmicruin/pseuds/cosmicruin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Every secret has a beginning.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Snapshots

Sehun at thirteen gained a best friend while looking for extra coins in his shorts pockets. He was ₩200 short of paying for his ice cream, but the boy standing behind him in line rescued him and paid for both of their cones. Sehun thanked him profusely for it, and the boy responded with a shy smile.

Two months later, Sehun read “Kim Jongin” on the nameplate pinned above his blazer’s left breast pocket. Jongin’s widened eyes proved his recognition, and the same shy smile draped his mouth when Sehun greeted him and occupied the desk next to his.

Sehun at fourteen never spent a waking moment apart from Jongin. They stole food off of each other’s lunchboxes, signed up for the dance club, played video games on the weekends instead of studying. Movie marathons took its place sometimes, with Jongin always curled up against his side like a contented cat. Sehun never minded Jongin encroaching on his personal space—they were best friends, after all. Nothing unusual, so he never understood the odd looks thrown their way.

Sehun at fifteen experienced the unusual, erratic beating of his heart for the first time when he bumped his head on a window so hard his eyes stung with tears. He’d never seen Jongin literally drop everything and cross the room so fast, fretting over him like he'd cracked his skull open. Warmth spread through Sehun’s chest at the display of concern.

The same warmth turned into wildfire once Jongin planted a gentle kiss on the tender area. Sehun gaped at him, caught off-guard. Jongin reddened and hurriedly explained he picked it up from his mother and sisters who did the same whenever he hurt himself.

They never spoke of it again. No repeat of the gesture, either, but Sehun still felt the phantom press of Jongin’s lips months later. It generated fantasies of kissing him, to his initial shock, then eventual acceptance.

Sehun at sixteen heard of Jongin’s dream to pursue ballet. Two years left before college, but already Sehun ached at the thought of parting ways. He tossed the idea of taking at least one photo each day, in the guise of preserving the best moments of their high school lives.

By his seventeenth spring, he’d filled an old shoebox with memories.

Sehun at eighteen poured his heart out into a letter, writing swift and sealing the envelope swifter before he regretted and ripped it to shreds. His chest was remarkably lighter, but apprehension gripped him throughout the night.

He didn’t know hiding the letter from plain view would serve as his saving grace until Jongin bound up to him in the hallway the next morning. He would’ve never survived the awkwardness if he gave it _before_ Jongin shared the joyful news of having a boyfriend now.

That night, Sehun buried the letter in the shoe box with a heavy sigh and a heavier heart, mourning for this chapter in his life ending too soon with neither beginning nor closure.


End file.
